


What If?....

by Jack_of_all_Tirades



Category: Fallout 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 10:41:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19462297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jack_of_all_Tirades/pseuds/Jack_of_all_Tirades
Summary: What if before deciding to release his surviving parent from Vault 111, Father had decided to use the DNA profile from the Vault-Tec database to have a Synth copy made of Nate/Nora to run simulated situations with Synth Shawn.The parent killed by Kellog could not be synthesized because the bullet damaged the pod, corrupting the vital genetic information needed to replicate Shawn's other parent.The official purpose of the experiment was to see how a Synth “family” would function. Athough he won’t admit it, Father wanted to get a glimpse at how life with his parent might have been.Unfortunately due to the instability of Synth Shawn, the program was deemed  a failure.The Institute decided to have the Nate/Nora Synth’s memory wiped and put them in the Wasteland under a new identity to try to better understand the movements of runaway Synths that have had a memory wipe. With the original safe in cryo, There was no need to do reconstructive surgery.The Synth woke up on the surface one day believing they were…





	What If?....

Piper Wright:

The story about Piper’s father was true, to a point. Implanted memories work best when there is an element of truth to them.

There was a man named Wright who uncovered a plot by his superior officer, and he was murdered by that captain.

But the plot was never discovered by the settlement. Wright had no family to miss him. Captain Mayburn, an alias of Conrad Kellogg, made sure those raiders completely wiped out the settlement that was causing so much trouble for his employer.

When the Institute scientists needed to create false memories for their "runaway" Synths, they tapped into Kellogg's memories to get an authentic feel to their fabricated memories.

\--- --- ---

The Synth calling herself Piper Wright awoke for the first time on the surface in a sleeping bag in the shell of a half collapsed house. She believed she had been on the long road from her old home settlement to Diamond City to start a new life.

She found an abandoned baby girl in the wreckage of a caravan during her travels, and the mother instincts programed from Nora surfaced. She called the baby Natalie, and since fate decreed they should share similar features, she raised her as her own sister. When Nat was old enough, Piper told the youngster the story of their brave father she was too young to remember.

Years later:

“DANNY, YOU OPEN THIS DOOR…..RIGHT NOW!” Piper banged her fist against the wall beside the intercom, then sighed. She briefly wondered if she could make it to Goodneighbor before it got dark. She wasn’t Mayor Hancock’s favorite person, but the ghoul never denied someone in need. She was about to start out when she caught a flash of bright blue out of the corner of her eye.

The vault dweller approaching the massive gate to Diamond City was wearing leather armor over her vault suit and an assault gas mask that covered her face and hair.

When she saw the woman in the red leather trench coat, the vault dweller appeared to freeze in confusion, and Piper thought for certain the woman was going to bolt in fear before she finally got her to finally come close.

The Vault Dweller hesitantly agreed to the interview after gaining entry to Diamond City, but seemed very nervous through out and refused to take her mask off despite how badly it muffled her voice.

After the interview, Piper didn’t hear anything more from the masked Vault Dweller until after Nick Valentine returned from being rescued from Skinny Malone’s hideout. The Synth detective sent word for Piper to meet him at his office.

When she arrived, the first thing she noticed was how unnerved Ellie, Nick’s secretary, was and how she refused to make eye contact with the reporter.

“Piper... Come on in. Please sit down.” Said Nick, gesturing to the rickity chair usually reserved for weeping potential clients. He kept his tone light and friendly, but gave Piper that probing, intense stare usually reserved for suspects.

“Nick…..What’s going on here? You two are starting to freak me out big time.” said Piper, looking between Nick and Ellie.

Nick paused, considering his words carefully. “We’ve known each other a long time now, kid. And I feel like in that time we’ve had a mutual trust and... to be honest.... a good friendship even though I’m…well… a Synth.”

Piper softened a bit “Nicky, of course! I trust you with my life…hell, I trust you with my baby sister’s life. What’s this all about?”

The old Synth gestured to a case file on the desk beside him. “You may be aware that I was rescued from Skinny Malone's particular brand of hospitality by the Sole Survivor of Vault 111. The same woman you interviewed some months ago. It seems the Institute has a special interest in her. Not only did they steal her son, but it seems they made a Synth of her too…and it’s been walking around the Commonwealth long before she was thawed out.”

“That’s incredible. Oh my God... what a scoop. But that's the angle here? Why would the Institute make a copy of a pre-war house wife kept on ice in some forgotten vault?” Piper asked excitedly, momentarily forgetting about Nick and Ellie’s odd behavior.

“We were hoping you could tell us,” replied Nick evenly.

Piper paused mid-gesture.

“Wait…. Me? But….How would I know?!” she asked in confusion, looking between her two friends.

“She really doesn’t know, does she?” Asked a voice from behind the partition closing off the sleeping quarters from the rest of the office.

Piper’s eyes flew wide at the sound of the familiar sounding voice. She stood up, whirled around, and found herself staring into her own hazel green eyes.

The Vault Dweller stood before her, wearing her face, her hair… a perfect replica; right down to the splay of freckles across her cheeks. She didn’t realize she had been backing away from her doppelganger until she crashed into the file cabinets behind her. Piper quickly drew her 10mm pistol and aimed it at the blue suited imposter.

“JESUS, NICK!!! HOW COULD YOU?! I TRUSTED YOU!!!! You can try to replace me, but I’m not going without a fight.” Piper spat angrily.

Nick quickly moved between Piper and Nora, hands raised. “No one is replacing you, Piper… The only thing we were looking for was answers."

"Answers to what, exactly? Hmm? Insider information on how to take down Diamond City? Why don't you ask the Mayor?"

Nick kept himself between Piper and the others, shielding them as best as his busted up body would allow. "She’s HUMAN, Piper. Real flesh and bone human. We went to Doctor Amari at the Memory Den and plugged her into a lounger. Her brain scan read human. Amari knows a Synth brain like the back of her hand."

Piper’s face drained of color and she slowly lowered her weapon as the implication of Nick’s words sank in. She dropped the pistol on the ground and buried her face in her hands and slowly sank to the floor.

“We found a trader who used to frequent the settlement you claim to have come from…“ Nick said gently. “Constable Wright never had any children… and the settlement WAS wiped out by raiders.”

“That’s impossible…” Piper sobbed through her hands. “I remember everything….”

“Piper…” Nick put a hand gently on her shoulder. “Who is Nat? Who is she really?”

“I didn’t kill her parents and steal her, if that’s what you’re implying.” Piper looked up at Nick, her eyes puffy from crying and burning with indignation. ”It’s the only lie I ever told you, Nick. I found her hidden in the remains of a caravan that had been hit by gouls. I just couldn’t leave her behind… so I told everyone she was my sister…”

Ellie walked over and knelt beside the reporter, offering a hug and a clean bandana.

“What? You’re not afraid of me now?” She said to Ellie with a slight edge to her voice.

“Oh Piper…. I’ve been friends with Nick far too long to be afraid of a synth…. And I’ve known you too long to be afraid of you…. But…you gotta understand… We didn’t know how you would react to seeing Nora… We didn’t know if it would trigger some command or….” Ellie trailed off, looking up to Nick and Nora.

Nora walked over and extended a hand to her Synth double. Piper momentarily flinched away and glared distrustfully at her twin before sighing and accepting help up off the floor.

“Now what happens?” Piper asked shakily as she was helped to a chair.

Nora looked at the three of them in turn and said, “As far as I’m concerned, this changes nothing. You are still the same passionate, caring person who took in an abandoned little girl and raised her as your own sister. You’re the same person that cares for this city and fights for truth. You may have started as a copy of me, but you are still your own person. Everything that makes you Piper Wright is yours alone. No one in this town has seen me without my gas mask, and no one needs to know if you don’t want them to. We can work it out somehow."

Piper looked down at her hands in her lap for a long time, considering her situation. “I always say that I’d rather hear an ugly truth than a pretty lie… but I have Nat to think about. I’ll have to figure that out eventually… in the meantime, you remember my offer to go with you?”

“Yeeeaaah?” Nora replied hesitantly.

“Well, Blue, You don’t have a choice now. The Institute has some explaining to do, and I’m not gonna rest until we both get the answers we need.”


End file.
